Almost Got 'Im
by Moss Royal
Summary: A card game between Danny's most hated foes elicits their tales of how they've 'almost got 'im'. Mild DS at end. [COMPLETED]
1. Chapter 1

Hi there! If you've ever read Kim Possible fan fictions, you may have heard of me. I'm Moss Royal: Cartoon Action Fanatic and Wish-To-Be FF Writer. I know that this isn't quite how poker is played, but I needed to shorten up to make this story work. This is my first DP fic, so I hope you enjoy! Leave a review and I'll send a reply!

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**Almost Got 'Im**

Somewhere in the Ghost Zone, there lies an old nightclub, suspended for eternity like Walker's Prison or Skulker's Lair. No one lived there, but many came and went to it once in a while; mostly spirits who wanted some privacy from the rest of the endless domain, whether in solitary or with those they spent their time. This time it was the latter.

Two ghosts upon a dark motorcycle marked '13' approached it. Once there, the occupants dismounted and the driver turned his ride off before entering the run-down establishment.

The male driver picked one of the larger round tables and then he did something that any mortal would deem bizarre. He looked down to the ancient floor and began speaking to his shadow.

"Get some more chairs; we need eight altogether remember," he ordered.

And to add to further surprise, his shadow began to rise from the floor and take on a form independent from its master. It was unnatural, to be sure, but there was some resemblance to its creator. The long hair and green eyes were the imprinted onto the monstrosity's face and head. Though that was where the similarities ended. The shadow had slick, ebony skin and bulged with grotesque muscle, and his mind was consumed by nothing more than service. As the faded minion went to gather chairs, his master and his soulmate pulled up the few chairs around them and took a seat.

The master reached into his interior jacket pocket; pulled out a deck of cards and began to shuffle them again and again. He was a young man, or had once been a young man, I suppose, with grayish skin, almost nonexistent freckles and long, as his soulmate called 'greasy', blonde hair. He wore a long black jacket that went down to his ankles, boots and a green skull necklace around his neck.

His soulmate was an attractive, young woman with similar gray skin; wild, green hair; ruby red eyes and a small nose. Like her lover, she wore 50's style biker clothes like her red leather jacketthat showed off herbare midriff; red skirt and fishnet stockings that led to her black high heels. She possessed no unique abilities like her significant other, but she was able to overshadow people far more skillfully than many other ghosts could, including her mate. He had never found a use for using people's bodies, save the time he tried to find her a host; he preferred to do things with his own powers instead of beating around the bush in someone else's body.

At this point the shadow returned carrying just enough chairs to make eight around the table. The grisly beast laid them down before resuming his post attached to his master's feet.

"You sure they're coming, Johnny? I don't wanna stay here any longer than I have to do," the lady ghost stated, whilst glancing around at the horrid surroundings.

"Amp down, Kitty. They'll be here; they wouldn't miss it," the male ghost identified as Johnny 13 remarked as he continued to shuffle the cards.

And indeed, he was right. He hadn't shuffled the deck twice when they were joined by two other ghosts.

One was a tall, muscular, blanched specter, probably best described as a skeleton in a suit. His eyes and nose were hollowed out, with the former glowing green and the latter radiating violet. He wore a hat upon his head to shield his hairless scalp, but even without the hat, it was doubtful that he would be taken less seriously. Save Pariah Dark, there was no ghost at this time more infamous and feared than him: Walker, the Warden of the Ghost Zone Penitentiary; not Correctional Facility, Penitentiary, as it was his view that no inmate should ever truly leave the confines of his prison. He had no one with him this time, as he had so many other times. No Bullet, no guards, no prisoners bound to his wrist to await judgment. He had put his right-hand man, Bullet in charge while he took some time off.

The other was another well-built figure, and unlike Walker, he was literally well built. For he was in reality, a tiny, insignificant sprite of a specter operating a state-of-the-art battle suit. But what the pint-sized spook lacked in physical power and mobility, he made up for in his acute tracking skills and continually expanding savoir faire of ghostly tech. He was constantly making additions and upgrades to his exoskeleton so as to pose a greater and greater threat to his quarries, although few managed to escape his grasp. And like any true-blue hunter, he was blood-thirsty and ruthless, always searching for new creatures to cage or skin, having no regard for the beings he hurt and captured. He was Skulker: Ghost Zone's Greatest Hunter and Tracker.

"Hey," muttered Skulker.

"Hey yourself, Tin Man," responded Johnny rudely.

Skulker frowned at him and took his seat next to Johnny, making sure to keep an eye on him. Walker took the seat three left of Kitty.

"How long you been waitin'?" probed Walker.

"Not long, maybe five minutes," answered Johnny, continuing to shuffle.

"Hope the others get haulin' it; I wanna get this game goin'," mumbled Walker.

"You're not much for patience, are you?" inquired Skulker.

"You should know I'm not," Walker growled, knowing that Skulker was one of the many who had escaped his prison thanks to the ghost kid.

Luckily for Skulker, the focus was taken off him when another two ghosts entered the old club.

One was what other ghosts called an upgraded, having moved on from his original ghostly form to a superior, more powerful shape. This one had long, white hair, once wild and erratic, now cut short on the front, fully displaying his face with rectangular sunglasses almost completely hiding his eyes; his jagged teeth, not fang-like, but still rather irregular, which gave him a menacing look and his ghoulish green skin completing his post-human identity. His build had altered a lot too, his formerly thin and weasly appearance replaced by a trim and buffed up upper body. His white lab coat had disappeared for a stylish black suit and white, flowing cape, draping down to his ankles on the back and over his chest on the front, ending in an almost bat-like pattern. The only thing that really stayed exactly the same besides his face were his green gloves and nasal voice, emphasizing his love for all thing 'electronic and beeping'. He had the ability to corrupt and control any kind of technology not protected by any ghost-proof shield. In a nutshell, he was the zone's biggest and strongest techno geek, better known as Nicolai Technus.

The other was best known in both realms for being probably the most pathetic ghost ever created. He wore gloves, a toque and overalls, hinting towards some medial job like a fisherman or a forklift operator or something. He had the power to control...wait for it...boxes and more recently...dramatic pause...bubble wrap! This minor annoyance to those good and evil tried to make up for his many weaknesses by making his voice as big and booming as possible, repeatedly trying to make others fear him with his floating and nearly useless dominance over crates and packages.

"Oh good, we're not too late," Technus remarked, taking a seat left of Walker.

"**I can be as late as I choose! Because I am the Box**-"

"Oh shut up, you fat idiot and sit down!" ordered Skulker.

The Box Ghost complied and sat down between Technus and Skulker.

"Thank you," said everybody at the table, not wanting to hear the moron's little box-related threats.

"So who are we waiting for?" questioned Technus.

"Lady Pop-Rock and Half-Rich Man, Half-Vampire," answered Johnny, not looking up from the cards he was still shuffling.

"That's Queen Pop-Rock to you, Baby Pop!" came a young, female voice from the door. She walked in and took a seat right of Walker.

She was also pretty young, still in her teens, adorned with black eye shadow, skull-faced boots and black leather clothes, guitar strewn across her back, she was the stereotypical 70's rocker. Her long, blue hair tied back into a ponytail, which as many knew could be formed into a fiery weapon at her command. But her voice was her true strength, being able to hypnotize any listeners into slavery, violence or even love if needed. She was Ember McLean, freakishly dressed teen idol and spiritual siren extrordinaire.

Johnny looked up from the cards, examined Ember up and down and then whispered to Kitty, "Why can't you ever dress like that?"

Kitty growled angrily in response and made a mental note to not let Ember get any nearer to her Johnny.

"So what?" asked Ember. "We're just waitin' for Mr. Pointy-Hair-And-Cape?"

"Yep," mumbled Kitty, who suddenly looked up. "Who apparently has just graced us with his presence."

They all glanced over seeing Vlad Plasmius, in all his half-dead glory, as he seated himself between Kitty and Ember.

"Sorry I'm late, but it's all in good fashion to be reasonably behind schedule, you see," he excused.

"Of course," said Skulker, rolling his synthetic eyes.

Vlad was, as Johnny had stated, very vampiric in appearance, with large, dark, pointed hair with a grayish stripe through the middle; red, pupil-less eyes; fangs;turquoise skin and a cape, though unlike Technus', it came only to the top of his shoulders on the front. Though he had an old-style handsomeness to him, the man was bitter and twisted beyond belief. Given his other-worldly powers in a freak accident, he used them to become a corporate success in the human world, while simultaneously becoming a potent ghost. His goal was to take out Jack Fenton, the person he held responsible for ruining his life, and make Maddie Fenton his wife and Danny Fenton/Phantom, almost every ghost's arch-enemy, his son and apprentice. And time and again he's shown that he'd be willing to do anything, even kill Danny, to make that dream a reality.

"Now that you're finally here, we can play," said Johnny, passing out cards. "Whoever gets a Jack deals first."

"Naturally," remarked Vlad.

"What about the betting chips?" asked Technus.

"**I am the Box Ghost, possessing many boxes, one which contains the chips we need! BEWARE**!"

"Just divide the chips, stupid," grumbled Skulker.

Once the chips were split evenly and everyone anteed, Johnny passed cards around the table until a Jack was found, by Ember.

"Ms. McLean deals first then," said Vlad as he and all the others passed their cards in for her to reshuffle.

As Ember shuffled and then dealt, she tried to strike up a conversation. "So, what's the latest news on the kid?"

"Barely making his C grades stick," stated Vlad. "Apparently he's having trouble staying awake, what with us always causing trouble for him."

They all couldn't help but grin or chuckle at that. They may lose, but at least they were making it hard for their youthful adversary to make it through day-to-day life.

"I should hope so," remarked Walker. "If it wasn't for Wulf havin' us sucked back here, I would've made life brick hard for that punk!" He then glanced at his hand. "I'll bet three." He tossed three chips into the middle of the table.

"Like you're all that!" Johnny scoffed.

"Yeah, Johnny and I've come close too!" Kitty defended.

"Hey, what about me?" inquired Technus. "I've nearly flattened the whelp more times than I can count! And speaking of counting, I see Walker's three!"

"**I too have come very close! And I see three and raise you two more mini-discs! BEWARE MY POKER HAND!**" the Box Ghost warned.

"Seen," called Walker, throwing in two more chips.

"I fold," growled Technus, chucking his cards down.

"I'll see your five and raise you one," challenged Skulker. "And I'm sure the child has faced greater fear at my hands then any of yours!"

"Oh, please!" sighed Johnny, before looking at his hand. "That's it! I fold!"

"Seen, Skulker," Walker said.

"**I'll see too!**"

"And me," Kitty joined in, adding her chips to the pot.

"I'm in," said Vlad.

"And I fold," Ember growled.

"All right; let's see what we've got!" announced Vlad.

"Two Pair, Nine high," revealed Walker.

"**Full House, Ten High! I challenge anyone to beat that!**"

"Nope, that beats me," murmured Skulker.

"And me," sighed Kitty.

"And me," snarled Vlad, having only a Pair.

"**Whoo-Hoo! BEWARE MY SKILLS!**" the Box Ghost yelled while taking his winnings.

"Oh, shut up," griped Skulker.

"**Get over it, dude; we can't all be superstars!**" the Box Ghost gloated.

"Well, your deal, Walker," Ember said, handing the deck to the warden.

"Hold it!" commanded Vlad.

"Why?" asked Ember.

"Well, it seems to me like we've all got an 'almost got 'im' story to tell. Mine's the best, I know since I'm the arch-enemy, but let's save the best for last and go with the dealer. Ember can tell one of hers beforethe new handand then while we play with Walker's deal, he can tell us his, and so on, and so forth. Sound good?"

A chorus of "Yeah"'s, "Sure"'s and "Whatever"'s were the replies, so Ember went ahead.

"All right, mine happened about two months ago..."

OOOO

_"I was flying around town looking for something to do, when I came across one of those medical buildings. You know, one of the tall ones with like ten, twelve floors? And there's gotta be at least five elevators bringing like three hundred people a day up and down the place, and with elevators there's gotta be elevator music. So I figure, I'd find where the music is generated, plug my guitar in, and I get three hundred people a day under my control. _

_"It was working too, I managed it for about a week, taking over any who listened. Old people, kids, doctors, dentists, janitors or anybody else who didn't wanna take the stairs. Just my luck that the dipstick happened to be one of those people. Turns out he came for a dentist appointment; makes sense, considering all the fighting he does. Of course, as soon as he heard my voice and guitar and how everybody was acting, he put two and two together. _

_"He ditched his parents and changed in the bathroom as soon as he could. Then he went to find the source of the music and, sure enough, he found me. _

_"He went on about how this was no surprise to him, and how my plans were getting more and more lame. After a while I got sick of it and decided to blast him. I kept shooting with my guitar to try and hit him with the sonic waves, but he kept on dodging them. And he kept on taunting me, calling me names and putting down my music. I got sick of it REAL fast and tried to fry him with my hair. He tried to miss it, but he got burned pretty good. Problem is that I hit my generator too, so that my music stopped broadcasting through the elevators. That had been his plan, obviously; he'd been getting on my case so I'd be too miffed to care what I hit after. _

_"I was torn between finishing him or high-tailing it out of there. My mind was made up when he started getting up and took out his Thermos; I decided to bolt, but I wasn't fast enough and he caught me in it. Then an hour or two later, I was back in the Ghost Zone..."_

OOOO

"But I almost got 'im," she said, holding her nose up indignantly.

"Hardly," mumbled Walker, while dealing out the new hands. "Honey, if you want to catch a criminal, you've gotta hit 'im where it hurts."

"I'll bet three," stated Technus.

"**I shall see! I AM THE BOX GHOST!**"

"So how 'bout you, hon?" Ember asked Walker. "What close catches have you had for the dipstick?"

"I had a good one not too long ago. I suppose all o' you've heard of my little invasion to drag the kid's name through the muck?"

All nodded, except for- "**I have not...BEWARE!**"

"I'll see," remarked Skulker, still looking at his poker hand.

"I'll see and raise three," said Johnny.

"Seen," said Skulker and Technus.

The Box Ghost decided to fold...**BEWARE!**

"Well," Walker continued, "after the whole 'Pariah' incident, over half his town was on his side and my plan was left belly-up. So I decided to take another shot, but since dirtin' up his image didn't work, I decided to hit 'im a little closer to home..."

OOOO

_"When I was there the first time, I got a good look at the punk's parents, and after I got sent back here, I started thinkin'. His mother was intelligent, rational and thought things through, but his father was another story. His father was impulsive, unreasonable and trigger-happy, traits that would come in very handy with my plan. _

_"I managed to find a way back to his hometown, and once there, I started spying on his ol' man. I had to do it while the kid was gone, otherwise he'd sniff me out. Lucky for me, his parents stayed at home most of the time workin' on gadgets, which gave me all the chances I needed to scope out his father. _

_"__My plan was simple enough: Once I knew the big bumbler through and through, I'd overshadow him and have him attack the punk, him thinkin' that his ol' man had disowned him. _

_"It took a good week o' snoopin'. I needed to know how he walked, talked, ate and reacted. In order, the answers to each were 'clumsily', 'bluntly', 'like a pig' and 'shoot anything that moves like a ghost'. Needless to say, it wasn't that hard; it was just like havin' to turn off a part of my brain and shiftin' my impulses into high gear. _

_"'Bout an hour 'fore the kid was due back from school, I overshadowed his ol' man. His wife didn't notice anything, just that her husband seemed to nod off for a sec. When the kid came home and I was alone in their basement, I called him down. _

_"Soon as he was in the downstairs door, I slammed it shut and locked it. 'Course the kid was wonderin' what was goin' on. I told 'im that he had some explainin' to do, like why he had been lyin' to his ol' man. _

_"He started gettin' sweaty and stammerin', askin' me what I meant. I told 'im he knew perfectly well what I meant: That he was a half-ghost abomination that had made his ol' man look like a fool, and it was time somethin' was done 'bout it. _

_"I pulled out one o' those Bazookas they had in their vault and started shootin' at the boy, makin' sure to shoot off-aim and erratic to sell the illusion of the dope. The kid hid behind some crates, and I kept firin' and yellin' at 'im that he couldn't hide forever and that he'd have to face me for what he'd done. _

_"Then the kid stepped out from behind the crates, and I was 'bout ready to fire again, but I stopped. Call it funny, but I had to, 'cause the boy's eyes were ablazin' like the inside of his head was on fire, and he said to me, with every fibre of his bein':_

"You are **not** my father. My father may not always think things through, but he'd never hurt me!" Once he said it, he changed into his ghost form and started walkin' towards me. "I don't know who you are, or who you think you are, and to be honest...**I**...**DON'T**..**CARE!**" He shot the gun outta my grip and aimed his hand at me, still glowin' with ecto-rays. "He is my father.This is my family..This is my home...**AND YOU ARE NOT WELCOME HERE!**"

_"He fired the ecto-ray he'd been buildin' in his hand and fired it at me, sendin' me clear out of that body. He recognized me, but didn't acknowledge me, like he said, he didn't care who I was. He grabbed me by the collar and hissed at me: _

"If I ever see you out of that prison again, you'll wish you'd never been born..."

_"Then he hit the ID pad on the console for their Ghost Portal and the door opened up back here..."_

OOOO

"He let me leave, his eyes repeatin' everythin' he'd just said to me, but I came close, so close to nailin' him; and I see the bet, by the way," he finished, laying down his chips.

"But I don't get it, what could you have done in his dad's body?" asked Kitty. "Sure you coulda beaten him up a bit, but I don't think you coulda killed him in that lumix."

"That wasn't the point. The point was to give 'im the creeps about his ol' man. He may know it was me usin' him, but he'll still have the nightmares of his father tryin' to kill 'im," explained Walker. "And I have a Flush, Five High."

Everyone else groaned as they had nothing higher, and Technus threw his cards down again, having been sure that his Straight would do the trick.

"Finally," said Vlad, "Someone who uses thought-out plans, and their opponents weaknesses against them. Not bad, Walker; not too far below mine,"

"If that's what you call praise, I'll have none of it, thanks," Walker announced, gathering the cards and passing them to Technus, immediately after grabbing his winnings. "Your deal, Glasses."

"Thank you," he replied, shuffling the deck and distributing the cards.

"**I shall bet two,**" Box Ghost stated.

"I'll see and raise you two," bet Skulker.

"**I'll see that.**"

"Me too," agreed Johnny.

"So what about you, Technus?" probed Vlad. "What near-victory ails you?"

"One about two weeks ago, not long after my ghostly upgrade..."

XXXX

And that's Chapter One of my first DP fic; this should be a short one, maybe three chapters long. I'm planning to do another DP fic after this. I hope you haven't been bored by the decription of the villains, but I felt it just really added to the element. Read and review! I love the feedback, and seein' thosenumbers go up on my stats bar! You review me and I guarantee a reply, unless I fall ill, but what are the chances of that!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey again! Thanks to those who've reviewed. That includes Inviso-Bill, L'ange-Sans-Ailes, purpledog100, ilikedan and chaotic pink chocobo. Thanks for your rapid responses! And I realize that I forgot to make a disclaimer, so I'll do that now.

**Disclaimer**: DP and all related characters belong to Butch Hartman; the 'Almost Got 'Im' idea belongs to Warner Bros. who used it in Batman: TAS. But using the DP villains in that theme was **my** idea!

You know the drill: Leave a review and I'll leave a reply! So R&R, everybody!

Now back to Technus' 'Almost Got 'Im' story...

OOOO

"_I had once been able to sneak around unnoticed by the whelp by controlling his friend's PDA system, so I figured that second times the charm, right? _

"_When his friend was alone, so the whelp wouldn't sense me, I ghosted into the device and took it over, being careful to keep up its usual functions so he wouldn't know the difference. Though I had to put up with some annoying, youthful music for a while, it'd be worth it if my plan worked. _

"_All I needed was for the child and his friend to go down to their basement and wait for the weapons vault to be opened. It wasn't hard; I was able to do it on the first day down there; the whelp's father opened the thing every five minutes to grab something, and the boy was on his computer with his friends. _

"_Did you know he keeps files on each of us and tabs on where we are?" _

"Huh, really?" asked Johnny, a little skeptically.

"I guess he's getting smarter then," reviewed Vlad.

"_Anyway, when his father came rushing out of the vault, and went rushing upstairs to go shoot at something, I took my chance and phased out of the PDA and slipped into the vault before it closed. "The boy sensed me, of course, as soon as I was out of the device, and saw me slip into the vault. He 'went ghost' as he says, and followed me, but he was too late; the weapons and gadgets that his family built were already fusing together into my new being! _

_"It took mere seconds for my new body to build itself, and once done, I knew the child wouldn't stand a chance, for I was now Technus: Destroyer of Worlds; Lord of Ectoplasmic Weapons! That last statement I made sure to tell him._

"You don't stand a chance, whelp!" _I told him._

"You're right; I don't," _he said, then he slammed the door shut and locked me in the vault."_

"What just like that?" inquired Kitty.

"You couldn't ghost out?" added Ember.

"_No, the inside of the room was protected by Ghost Shields so I couldn't get out. So I ended up being stuck in there for two days, until he came to let me out. Then he sucked me into the Thermos."_

OOOO

It was the stupidest and bluntest ending they'd ever heard. If it were any more stupid and blunt, it would be a caveman's club combined with his forehead.

"You're kidding, right?" asked Johnny. "You just let him suck you in there?"

"Hey," yelled Technus, "by two days I was unshaven and starting to smell! What would you do?"

"Johnny'd have surrendered, shaved and taken a shower, if he knew what was good for him," Kitty answered for her beau, peering at him over her cards. "And back to the game, I got Three of a Kind, Ace High."

The others all groaned as they'd been beaten, Technus once again chucking his cards to the table.

"Eee," Kitty squeaked, reaching in to take her poker pot.

"Well," began Vlad, "looks like the deal and anecdote falls to you, Box Ghost."

"This should be good," chuckled Skulker, picking up his new hand.

"**Har-dee-har-har! Very well, I shall relinquish my tale of packaged terror! It was but four days ago...BEWARE, for those of you with weak constitutions may wish to leave the table!**"

"Hey, no way we're givin' you a better shot at the pot, dude; we're stayin'!" said Johnny.

"**As you wish! It happened four days ago**..."

OOOO

"_I had him cornered in a warehouse; controlling dozens of boxes of TNT! I saw the fear on his face, and I knew this was his end, and then..." _

"What?" asked Ember.

"_I forgot TNT could explode, so he fired at a box and they all blew up in my face!" _

OOOO

"But..." stammered Kitty, "you said you knew the boxes had TNT in them."

"**Of course,**" said the Box Ghost, "**with all that TNT, the boxes would be very heavy indeed! HA HA! And I was so close too**..."

Everyone else just stared at him, not knowing whether to laugh at him or slap their heads in exasperation. This was beyond Technus' defeat. This **defied** the laws of stupidity! **CRIMINY! CRIMINY! DO YOU HEAR ME!**

"So let me get this straight," Vlad spoke up, rubbing his temples, "you had boxes loaded with TNT not so you could blow Daniel up, but so you could hit him with them?"

"**Yeah.**"

Of the earlier choice, the players decided on the former and laughed at him until they hurt, even Walker and Skulker. In fact, Johnny fell out of his chair and Kitty and Ember guffawed until their eyes were blinded by tears.

"**Heeey, it's not that funny!**"

"Oh, but it is," corrected Vlad, in between giggles. "Skulker: deal out the cards and tell your story before we keel over!"

"Sounds good," he agreed, still chuckling himself.

"**Oh, shut up,**" the Box Ghost mumbled bitterly.

"I agree with Plasmius," stated Skulker, "for to successfully capture your prey, you must know his weaknesses, and I thought of a way to exploit one of his..."

OOOO

"_I too have used that PDA to my advantage, though it caused me nothing but trouble the first time, I thought of a way to manipulate it without hurting myself. _

"_I just needed the Ghost Child to show up with his friends, and to avoid his Thermos for as long as I could; the rest was simple. _

"_I purposely revealed myself to him on his way home from school, knowing that he would instinctively rush in to defeat me. The two others that he surrounds himself with were there as well. I only needed the one with the PDA, but she could still be useful._

"_I evaded all his attacks, and once I was close enough, I shot an imprint of myself into the PDA. Everything that was me was downloaded into the device: My intelligence, personality and hunter's disposition. Before any of them could react, I had the PDA attach to his male comrade and absorb my duplicated consciousness into his brain. In mere moments, his body was at my whim, and the child was now dealing with **two** Skulkers, but the tender part was that he would never bring himself to hurt his friend, no matter who was in control. _

"_I was sure that I had him at my mercy, although my 'extended body' was limited, I still had some power in it. For instance, he could make himself intangible and fly, so he was able to pose a threat, and I had some detachable artillery that I handed to him, to make sure he could keep the child from getting to the PDA." _

"Hmm, not bad," muttered Vlad.

Nobody knew whether he was talking about Skulker's plan or his hand, prompting Johnny and Technus to fold.

"_At one point, when the Ghost Child had been knocked to the ground, he whispered something to his other friend, the dark-tinted girl." _

"Sam," Kitty clarified.

"_Whatever. Anyway, he whispered something to her and then he grabbed her and flew off to his home. I, of course, followed with my 'extension', ready to bring the child to his knees. He ended up landing in the basement, and had the girl start tapping into his computer. _

"_When we arrived, he took the offensive and tried to steer us away. I knew that he was up to something, so I tried firing for the girl, but every one of my..er..our shots, he either took himself or deflected. _

"Danny! It's ready!" _the girl told him._

"_The Ghost Child then altered his fighting style and knocked the weapons out of my 'extension's' hands and grabbed him, dragging him to the computer. Every attempt I made to stop him, he evaded and he quickly plugged a cord from the computer into the PDA attached to his comrade. _

"_His computer screen started flashing, and it was then that I realized what he was doing. Thousands of pictures of some dark-haired vixen with nearly flawless skin started downloading into the PDA." _

"Paulina," Kitty clarified again.

"That girl needs a mustache drawn on her," mumbled Technus.

"_As I was saying, he was downloading thousands of pictures of that girl to the PDA, and I knew what he was doing. Enough downloads into that device would cause it to crash and my digital consciousness would be lost. Before I could stop it, it was too late, the device dropped from his comrade and hit the floor, sizzling. _

"Hey!" _he said, now back in control._ "Nobody uses Tucker Foley as a human photocopier!"

"_With that, the Ghost Child sucked me into the Thermos, and brought me back to his Ghost Portal. The last thing I heard was: _

"Figures, I just finished my payments on that one!"

OOOO

"Still..." concluded Skulker, "I almost got 'im."

"Pretty good, Skulker; you're improving," praised Vlad. "Speaking of improving, Four of a Kind, Two High!"

Groans seemed to be the sound of the day, as they once again echoed through the destitute establishment. "Now, now; let's not be sore losers," advised Vlad, eagerly grabbing what was coming to him.

"Or sore winners," whispered Johnny.

"Huh," Vlad snorted. "And what of you, Mr. 13? Any daring evil-doing you'd like to share, or are you too embarrassed to enlighten us?"

"We'll both tell the story," corrected Kitty. "We're always together after all."

"That's not what I hear," scoffed Skulker, gathering up the deck. "Uh, who should I pass to if it's both your stories?"

"I'll tell it, and Johnny can deal, then we'll just go to Dracula over here," she explained, pointing uninterestingly at Plasmius. "That cool with everyone?"

No one held any objections, as no one particularly cared, so the deck went to Johnny with Kitty beginning the story.

As all eyes were on Kitty, no one noticed a green-eyed shadow rising from Johnny's feet and peeking at their hands...

OOOO

"_Okay, something that you all have to understand is that, unlike you guys, Johnny and me don't make big revenge plans and hunting sprees. We just wanna cruise around, see some sights, and be left alone. Only problem is that Danny keeps wanting to ruin our fun every time he sees us." _

"Might have somethin' to do with the fact that we tried to suck his sister's spirit in here or that you overshadowed that girl he liked," added Johnny.

"_Anyway, we were in the town's mall. After all, I'd been stuck in this zone for years, I wanted to catch up on what fashionswere in now. Once I found what I liked, I had Johnny bring out his shadow and rough up the place while we left. But before we were barely out of the store, guess who shows up? _

"You guys never waste time getting into trouble, do you?" _he asked with his arms crossed in front of his chest like we were a couple of naughty kids. I could see those two friends of his running up behind him. _

"Can't say we do," _Johnny said back, and sicked his shadow on him. _

"_We tried to run while his shadow fought Danny, but I guess he's getting stronger because next thing we know, the shadow's flat on the ground in front of us." _

"You guys really are losing your edge," _Danny criticized._

"_Then Johnny got an idea; he saw that Paulina girl coming out of a store to see what was going on." _

"Shadow, grab the girl!" Johnny _ordered._

"_So his shadow melted into the floor, and then reformed by Paulina;grabbed her, then he brought her in front of us, so Danny couldn't fire at us without hurting her. _

"Hey, let her go!" _he yelled._

"Yeah, right. That's gonna happen!" _Johnny laughed._

"Hi," _Paulina waved at him._

"Looks like you're stuck, runt. Now just let us go, and we'll let go of the girl," _Johnny negotiated. _

"I have a better idea," _Danny said, charging up his hand._ "How 'bout you let her go before I suck you back into the Ghost Zone?"

"_Then Danny fired at a nearby mirror window; it bounced off and hit the shadow from behind, causing him to drop Paulina. _

"_Danny caught her, and she started stroking his hair. Ew._

"Ooo. Brave and smart," _she cooed, seriously, cooed at him._

"_While he helped her up, we bolted to Johnny's bike and got out of there..." _

OOOO

"But we almost got 'im," Kitty concluded.

"Please, you weren't even close," Vlad groaned.

"Oh, stuff it," said Johnny. "You're just as lousy as we are. In case you haven't noticed, the runt's still flyin' around beatin' us!"

"True, but don't you think there's a reason he calls me his arch-enemy? I've never been sucked into the Thermos; I've never been beaten by Daniel on his own accord, and even when I lose, I still get something out of it, don't I?"

Vlad's statement caused everyone to shut up, that and his Seven High Straight, again winning him the hand.

"Something you all seem to be forgetting is that you keep record of your powers, and his strengths and weaknesses, like those he's close to. But you keep missing the factor of your own weaknesses. Ember depends on her music; Walker forgets that Danny has friends in high places; Technus is limited by the technology he uses; Box Ghost is a victim of his pathetic powers and stupidity."

"**Hey! I have feelings too, you know!**" he protested.

"Yes, I'm sure you do," murmured Vlad. "Moving on, Skulker's obsession with the hunt and need for the exoskeleton weakens him. And Johnny, your shadow can't withstand a decent blast of light."

"And what about you?" asked Ember.

"Yeah, you're telling us you don't have any flaws?" agreed Technus.

"Oh, of course I do," Vlad clarified. "But like I said, I factor them in and therefore I get more out of my plans, failure or not. That's the first rule of business, my friends: Turn every weakness into a strength. Keep your downfalls close to you, so you can use them to your eventual advantage." He took the deck from Johnny, and quickly shuffled it.

"For you see, many of his weaknesses are similar to my own, so I just had to think of how I would trap myself..."

OOOO

_"For weeks I'd let rumors circulate through the Ghost Zone about a bank heist in Amity Park. I knew sooner or later, Daniel would overhear some bumbler, and head to stop it. I stayed out of sight, until he arrived, then I snuck up behind him and pummeled him over the head with one of my new inventions, the Plasmius Unconsciousness, designed to instantly knock out any ghost it comes in contact with._

_"It performed without flaw, knocking him out just as I planned. I then took him to an underground lair near the outskirts of the town and bound him to one of the walls via some ghostly manacles. _

_"Given his spirit, it didn't take him long to wake up; idiotically demanding to know where he was and what I was scheming. LikeI would just tell him! Right!_

"Patience, Daniel," _I told him,_ "it's something you're going to need."

_"I whistled, beckoning my animal ghost experiments to me. Daniel might have turned my earlier creations on me, but I still had my vultures, not to mention some new mutates I'd strung together. Except this time I made sure to program loyalty to me into their brains to avoid any repetitions of last time._

"It's your choice, Daniel,"_ I informed. _"Be eaten, beaten and pecked alive by my pets or join me and embrace the glory that awaits you. And who knows, with you on my side, maybe your mother will finally gather her senses and leave that fat idiot!"

"Wow, that's quite the offer," _he said. _"It's like one of those catch-22 situations, so you can just take that offer and shove it up your-"

"Insolent fool! Big mistake, Danny; your last mistake.." _I snapped my fingers, ordering my beasts to approach him. _"I didn't want it to be like this, Daniel; I wanted you at my side with Maddie, but I suppose it's better like this. After all, with you out of the way, your father..is already dead!"

_"My animals were done with waiting and were coming in for their feed, but before any could even reach him-_

CRASH!

_"The wall adjacent burst opened, and a young figure stepped out holding a very large ecto-gun, so large, in fact, that she had to bear it on her shoulder to fire it. I recognized the girl, one of Danny's little friends, the night-loving Samantha Manson._

"Let him go, Vlad, or else!" _she threatened. I had to admit that Danny had good choice in friends._

"Oh well, isn't this quaint? The little girlfriend to the rescue!" _I couldn't help but laugh at them when their faces went several shades of red._

"She's not my girlfriend!"

"I'm not his girlfriend!"

"Fair enough," _I said._

"You'd think they'd give that up and get together," said Ember.

"Yeah, who are they tryin' to kid?" asked Kitty. "I doubt they're even fooling themselves!"

_"Anyway, as I was saying: _"My pets, attack Daniel!"

"Danny, stay still!" Ms. Manson yelled.

_"She fired the gun at his restraints, setting him free, and he promptly tore into my pets. They may be strong, but they're little sport against him. But that wasn't my concern; I was focussing on Samanatha. She kept firing at me, and I easily evaded. Then I turned invisible, and beat her over the head, knocking her unconscious, which, having done that twice that night, had made me realize that knocking people out was quite amusing._

_"Unfortunately, I got a good wallop myself, as I too late realized that she was wearing the Specter Deflector belt that had caused me so much grief not long ago. Luckily, I saw the key in her boot, and snatched it, only taking a few shocks, and unlocked the device from her waist._

_"Daniel was too busy with all the animals to notice that I had snuck out of the lair with his young friendover my shoulder, and by the time he did, I was long gone..."_

OOOO

"So what'd you do with the girl?" inquired Skulker. "Just drop her in the street somewhere?"

"Au contraire, my mechanized manhunter. Did I not say that Daniel had weaknesses similar to my own. My attachment to Maddie brings me down the same way Ms. Manson brings him down."

"Oh, so you used the girl to lure him somewhere else then," deduced Walker.

"Not quite," corrected Vlad. "Since I knew Daniel would escape my pets eventually, I needed another plan to get him on my side. A plan which is in effect right now!"

"Wait," Johnny interrupted. "You mean that this story like just happened?"

"Of course; why do you think I was late?" Vlad asked. "Right as we speak, Ms. Manson is dangling over a vat of acid in the Amity Chemical Plant, attached to a chain made to drop her down in-" The villain glanced at his watch. "oh, about half an hour now. I've sent word to Daniel. He is to surrender to me and my will immediately or Samantha will be nothing more but waste. And since I know Danny doesn't know where I placed her, I also know that I've won! HA HA HA!"

"Far from it, Plasmius," Skulker muttered, standing up. Except it wasn't Skulker's modified voice coming from the suit, but a younger, smaller voice.

Before anyone could comprehend what was going on, 'Skulker' grabbed Vlad by his collar, and flung him into some nearby tables. Then fired ecto-webs at everyone else, sticking them where they sat.

"For future reference, punks," he growled. "If you want a piece of me: Fine, but any of you touch my family or friends again, and you'll be seeing what's beyond your level of consciousness!"

He reached his hands up to his artificial head, and pulled it off, revealing none other than--Danny Phantom!

"Aw, crud," muttered Johnny.

"Looks like I'm pretty good at setting a trap myself. Lucky for me, I found Skulker in time to 'convince' him to lend me his suit." He headed towards the exit to go find Sam, but paused before leaving.

"One last thing." He held up his cards. "Straight Flush, Queen High. Beat that, losers!"

"**The Box Ghost will have his revenge! I shall**-"

"OH, SHUT UP!" roared everyone in the room.

"**Okay**," he whispered meekly.

OOOO

Sam had woken up some time ago, and wasn't pleased to see herself chained in midair, and even less pleased to see the bubbling acid below her. The bubbling liquid that she was quickly approaching, now with barely two minutes left.

"Danny! Tucker!" She got no response. "S-somebody! Anybody!"

"I'm here, Sam!" she heard Danny's voice coming towards her, seconds before he ghosted through the nearest wall.

Sam was so happy to see him that she didn't even wonder why he was wearing Skulker's exoskeleton.

Danny grabbed her in his arms and ghosted her through the chain, and then ghosted through the ceiling, back to her house.

"Thanks, Danny. I thought I was done!" she exclaimed, holding her arms around his neck a little tighter.

"Hey, not on my watch! Who would keep me from doing something stupid? Like telling me not to head to an obviouslyfake bank heist?" he asked.

"Yeah." Shesuddenly looked him over."Uh, Danny, what's with the Skulker ensemble?"

"Let's just say that tonight's been one crazy adventure after another," he replied and left it at that.

He dropped her off at her porch and bid her goodnight.

"Uh, Danny?" she asked, averting her gaze.

"Yeah, Sam?"

"I was kinda wondering if maybe you'd like to-I dunno-uh.."

Before she could ask him anything, she saw him shiver and a light mist appeared from his mouth.

"Looks like it'll have to wait, Sam. Raincheck, okay?"

"Sure, it's not that important."

With that, Danny flew off to find who or what had set off his Ghost Sense, while Sam looked after him, shaking her head, but smiling.

"Hmm, almost got 'im..."

XXXX

And that's "Almost Got 'Im. Hope you enjoyed! Sorry it was so short chapter-wise, but I tried to make it longer word-wise! Keep your eyes open for my next story, which'll hopefully be longer. Look out for "Shell of a Teen"! Starring Dash Baxter!


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